Summa Health officials hope new leadership in the E-R will improve care for patients and help repair the Akron hospital system’s reputation after several months of negative headlines. Ideastream’s Marlene Harris-Taylor has more on the new head of emergency medicine.

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Dr. David Seaberg says there’s work to do to regain the public’s confidence in Summa Health and its emergency department. Summa abruptly switched the company it used to staff ER doctors late last December. That move was followed by public confusion and allegations of lower quality care. Seaberg said he has already taken steps to improve the ER including hiring eight new doctors.

“I would like to hire 15 more by July and I think we will meet that so then we have a dedicated group of physicians who will live here in Akron and participate in the community and help grow Summa health emergency medicine." he said.

Seaberg has been on the job about a month but was officially voted in by the hospital board last week. He most recently chaired the University of Tennessee’s emergency medicine department but he is not a stranger to northeast Ohio -- having worked at both MetroHealth and Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine.